P4- Differences between my first and second draft

In my second draft I did not make many changes as my article is simply an interview, however I had to cut down a lot of my interview to make it fit into the space. I gathered what I found to be the best and most interesting questions and compiled them together. I also introduced a opening statement they lets the reader know what they are about to read. This was important because in my first draft I did not have any introduction to the product and to a reader who doesn't know what my magazine usually features, then they would be confused by this.

P3- Interview second draft

We got the chance to interview upcoming Hip Hop artist Luke Beesley, or how most know him, Bumble Beesley.


My First question is what sparked your interest in music?






When I really enjoy something, I want to create it, for example, I like watching films, so I want to make films, so I like listening to music, and that’s why I want to make it.







Was your interest always in this particular genre of music?






When I was younger, around 7 or 8, I used to listen to whatever my mum and dad would listen to, so like soul, disco, RNB, Funk, 70s rock, Jazz, but when I got into Highscool, because I was 12 or 13, I just listened to whatever was popular, I listened to some naughty house bangers, like… (he proceeded to sing some “Naughty house bangers” with a series of “Duns” you know what I’m saying, but then, as I sort of grew out that phase, I got back into the music my mum and dad used to listen to, and from then I moved onto hip hop.

Do you think that lists of genres you gave me; do you think that influences your music today?

Yeah because instrumentally I like to take things from those genres

When did you decide you wanted to rap?






When I was 16

Do you remember the moment?

I was in New York on a school trip, I was in Hollister, and there was this beat playing from the shop speakers, and I started freestyling, and from that moment I just knew, I just kind of evolved it from there

And how did that decision develop into your first single, City Of God?




Well, I was in college, and we just watched the film city of god, great film, and I was bored, so I wrote a 16 for it, and my tutor was like wah, this is fire man, I said Nicewan lid, he said record it, I said potassium.








So since you began making music you have released two mixtapes, a remake of City Of God and around 5 other singles, is it fair to say we can be expecting more music?




Yeah, I’m gonna drop an EP, I’m dropping one, under a different name, which I’m not gonna tell you what it is yet, but I’m gonna drop a mix tape… I’m just gonna keep making music I might drop a song every week I don’t even care anymore.




Well Thank you for your time, is there anything you would like to tell your audience?




Yeah ermmm, I'm not a meme anymore, I'm taking myself more seriously and I hope that people will go through this transition with me.

P2- Sample pictures

These are the images I have taken for my product, they all have potential and I will be analysing them for their usefulness in my final product.

This image has a nice aesthetic to it, however the table features a lot of unwanted items, it also doesn't leave much room for text for when it makes it to my product

This image again will not be used in my product as there is no clear area on the image that could have my headline.

 This image has a lot of, potential as there is a lot of clear room for text, however the colours in my opinion don't make the picture very professional, it is quite a dull picture. Also the artist is stood in the very centre of the page meaning on the double page spread the image would go over the fold of the page and would not look very good.

This image could be suitable for my front cover as t has room for all the text whilst being a good image of the artist, it also represents the artists sense of humour and introduces that to the reader straight away, this image may be my Front cover.

This image is not the best choice for my front cover as it features a lot of unwanted background items that could interfere with text placement and text colour contrasting the background.

 This image has a lot of potential as it introduces the reaser to the artists wacky sense of humour, however I believe with editing this could look very professional, I will be choosing this for my front cover.

This image would not be very good for my double page spread. as the artist is too small, I aimed to have a clear background using the wall in the back however I took the picture from too far away and now the artist is not in the foreground making it unusable for my double page spread

P3- Interview Transcript/ first draft

My First question is what sparked your interest in music?






When I really enjoy something, I want to create it, for example, I like watching films, so I want to make films, so I like listening to music, and that’s why I want to make it





Was your interest always in this particular genre of music?






When I was younger, around 7 or 8, I used to listen to whatever my mum and dad would listen to, so like soul, disco, RNB, Funk, 70s rock, Jazz, but when I got into Highscool, because I was 12 or 13, I just listened to whatever was popular, I listened to some naughty house bangers, like… (he proceeded to sing some “Naughty house bangers” with a series of “Duns” you know what I’m saying, but then, as I sort of grew out that phase, I got back into the music my mum and dad used to listen to, and from then I moved onto hip hop.

Do you think that lists of genres you gave me; do you think that influences your music today?

Yeah because instrumentally I like to take things from those genres

When did you decide you wanted to rap?






When I was 16

Do you remember the moment?

I was in New York on a school trip, I was in Hollister, and there was this beat playing from the shop speakers, and I started freestyling, and from that moment I just knew, I just kind of evolved it from there

And how did that decision develop into your first single, City Of God?




Well, I was in college, and we just watched the film city of god, great film, and I was bored, so I wrote a 16 for it, and my tutor was like wah, this is fire man, I said Nicewan lid, he said record it, I said potassium.






So since you began making music you have released two mixtapes, a remake of City Of God and around 5 other singles, is it fair to say we can be expecting more music?




Yeah, I’m gonna drop an EP, I’m dropping one, under a different name, which I’m not gonna tell you what it is yet, but I’m gonna drop a mix tape… I’m just gonna keep making music I might drop a song every week I don’t even care anymore.








Recently you started releasing music under a different name, you've moved on from Bumble Beesley to simply your name




I have, Luke Beesley,




What’s the reason for this?




That’s my name, and I didn’t like Bumble Beesley anymore, but I’m gonna be releasing more music under a different name, Luke Beesley’s just kind of like ... how do I explain it, like if I just make a song that I think it’s good but don’t have a reason to put it out, it’ll go out under Luke Beesley, but for the new music I’m making, I’m putting that out under a different name, a different universe, a different world







And how has this re-branding effected your music?




The original rebranding from Bumble Beesley to Luke Beesley, I mean I’ve only released three songs so under Luke Beesley, and they’re a lot more professional and more mature, I’d say, however for my next rebranding, it’s gonna be astronomically different, it won’t even be focused on hip hop I’m just using rap as a form of expression through the music, and the music will encompass a whole character that might not necessarily be me, but has extracts of my personality in it.







Now I want to know more about you as a person, talk me through an average day in the life of Luke Beesley




I’ll do a day when I’m not in college, ill wake up about half 9, check my phone you know all that malarkey, go down, have some Brecki, go the gym, come home, have some lunch, work on some music, and then depending or not on whether I’m in work in the afternoon coz I’ve got a job I’m out here getting money, unlike you broke boys, depending or not on whether I’m in work or depending on how much I… I actually spend a lot of time making music, and if I’m not making music I’m doing something else like I…, I don’t really spend time playing Xbox or anything like that anymore, I’ve also started reading a lot more recently, trying to learn more, because power is knowledge and knowledge is power, and I don’t know nothing, and I know everything.







Has this career choice changed your lifestyle at all?






Yes because if I wasn’t wanting to make music I wouldn’t spend as much time doing it, like my main Hobby now is making music, and… or sat there writing ideas down for videos like music videos and stuff like that, I also spend a lot of time just thinking, I don’t think people do that enough, I just sit there not doing anything, just thinking.






Has your career choice changes the life of the people around you, do people act differently towards you?




A lot of people come up to me and say “Bumble Beesley” and I say “hi”




And does that annoy you? Because of the rebranding you want to move on from that name?




It annoys me and it doesn’t annoy me, it annoys me in a way that it’s like yeah I’m not making music under that name anymore but at the same time that’s how most people know me under that name, so I can’t really complain, I’m quite lucky to be in a position where I’m having some sort of acknowledgment already, I haven’t even done any marketing or nothing, or any proper proper music and… and I’m already…like if you think about it the two music videos spit that fire and city of god are terrible and we were just messing around making them but they’ve had like a thousand views each and a lot of people when they’ve just started out don’t really get that sort of exposure.









What does your music mean to you? What do you get out of it?




I think my music is a way to express myself, and it’s also… if I’m not being productive, if I’m not making stuff I get like.. it affects my mood, so it’s a way of me creating things, like when I was younger id always be making Lego, and that would sort of be my substance, then through high school like the early years id be on Minecraft all the time, like in the early years, like year 7 and 8 and that would kind of do it, and then when we started getting into drama in the later years that was doing it, so this is like my thing that’s doing my creative needs now







What direction do you want to take your music in the future?




With this new rebranding I’m gonna be doing, it’s gonna be more of… like, you know like how marvel has its own universe? This music’s gonna have its own universe, so the music videos are gonna have a certain aesthetic surrounding it, a certain vibe around everything and everything will relate to this and that, and I think it’ll be more… Yo I’m just doing an interview man, Yo that’s my homeboy CB, I think it’ll be more… more music videos and more of… the songs will be a soundtrack to the video and less of the video thingying the song do you get what I mean?









What artists inspire you the most?


Wow tough question, I think your inspired by different artists at different times you can never really pin point one artist as being your main inspiration, I’ll try and think of some off the top of my head, I don’t think I’m really inspired by people but less of like.. Oh how do I explain it? Like musically I’m not inspired by people but maybe inspired more by what they’ve achieved, So for example just to name three off the top of the dome real quick, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Drake, I think they’re the big main three anyway so a lot of people coming up will be inspired by them, but then if we take it into a little bit… you’ve got like Childish Gambino, Joey Badass, erm… who else, Skepta, you know like those sort of artists but then at the same time I’m inspired by people like Teddy Pendergrass, like sonically, or Brock Hampton or Gus Dapperton, like those sort of people that make really really really good music and it’s like ooh I want my music to sound as good as them, and they’re not rap artists, I think I’m inspired more by people who don’t make rap music.





And finally, if you become and international Hip Hop artist making millions weekly, where would you go, what would you do, and what would you spend your money on?




I think I’d probably stay in Liverpool, id make a studio in Liverpool and just keep creating, I wouldn’t really like… I’d try and be the least famous I could be whilst still being… like Frank Ocean you know what I mean, he kind of just does his own thing and I think that’s what I’d do, like I think in this day and age you can do everything independently you don’t need to sign to a big label, you can kind of just do everything on your own terms and make it how you wanna make it and hope that people can just appreciate it, like you appreciate it yourself.

P5, M4,D1- Meeting the client brief, self evaluation

Self evaluation


This is how my front cover turned out, overall I am very pleased with the quality of the final product. I believe my product has features that a professional magazine would have. For example my Masthead. I have this featured in the top left of my page, this was inspired by the existing hip hop magazine XXL. Similarly to their product, I wanted a badge that would stand out from the rest of the page and be instantly recognisable, it is important that I achieved this because this adds a sense of community to my magazine as only people from Liverpool will recognise this as it will be exclusively for them. The headline "Top Bars" also instantly lets people know that this is a Hip Hop magazine and that local slang reinforces the Liverpool community sense to the magazine. My main image is in black and white as some of the magazines I researched used this feature, this tended to be on the more old school artists, however I wanted to use this as the artist wants to bring an old school adaptation to modern Hip Hop. I chose to have my text in yellow as I wanted it to stand out from the black and white, I also wanted to have three main colours as the focus and this felt like a good way to highlight the text, this yellow is also something I see in a lot of local adverts and will give people that community feel. My main cover line is the biggest text on the page as this is what draws people in, the interview will be the main purpose of the magazine and will be what draws in the readers, because of this the interview needs to be the main focus of the front cover. I also have another cover line that introduces people to next months interview, this entices people to get next months issue as the reader may enjoy learning about this upcoming artist and wonder if next months will be as interesting. Overall I am pleased with my final product as I believe it looks professional and would interest my target audience. However there is room for improvement, if I where to do this front cover again, I would add more cover lines for other content within the magazine, this is because all the focus is on the interviews, and if a reader isn't interested in the interviews, then they will disregard the magazine as that is all the front cover advertises.

This was the final product for my double page spread, I am quite happy with its quality however I believe my front cover looks much more professional as this lacks in several of its qualities, however I still believe it meets the client requirements. A strength in my product is my article, my article is 427 words and introduces the reader to this artist and from the feedback I have collected it is an interesting interview. I am also happy with the pull quotes, pull quotes are a common convention in an article and I use them here to draw the reader in to want to here this interview. My article is set out in columns like a professional magazine, one issue I faced was that my interview was almost double the size but I had to cut a lot of content out to make it fit. I also wish I could have gotten an extra picture, on the day of the shoot we did not have the studio for long and I wanted to get a range of images to choose from, this is the image I chose but the quality of the image was not as good and I did not check it back before I left. Another strength is the use of red, the double page spread was very bland with the grey background and black text but the red makes the article seem more appealing, it is also successful at grabbing your attention as I want it to be the first thing the reader sees. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out however my double page spread has the most room for improvement.


How does my product meet the client brief?


I believe my magazine does meet the client brief as I have heavily focused on community, this entire magazine is based on community as it is only sold locally. The survey I created for my product research was completely filled out by the local community which is effective because that is my target audience. The content of the article also meets the brief as the artist lives and performs in Liverpool, this also achieves my proposal as I wanted this magazine to introduce the reader to a new artist. My brief also asks me to create a print based/ graphics product, for this I am asked to create a double page spread and a front cover, which I have done. It also states that all the content must be original content, to meet this requirement I can confirm that all the images, planning and content of my project was all created by me and none was outsourced.


Are there any conventions that I could have implemented
I believe there is always room for improvement and my product could be altered in many ways and feature more conventions. For example I should have made my pull quotes on the double page spread could have been in a different font to look more interesting, they could have also been bolder to make them stand out more. This does not only apply for the pull quotes, I believe the headline could have used the same improvements to ensure it pops out to the reader. At first glance, my article looks boring, so I would have used a better font and possibly a different colour to make it appear more interesting and intriguing.


My file type
My product was converted to a JPEG file as when presenting it on the blog, as well as future distribution. This makes the image easy to pass around as well as a high quality representation of what my magazine could be. JPEG images are very east to send and upload meaning that all distribution would be very easy as they are simply one file.


What software did I use?
I created both my double page spread and my front cover using Adobe Photoshop. It's professional and relatively easy to use, whilst allowing me to utilise the tools to create a goof product. It allowed me to use features like the filters, on my front cover Photoshop allowed me to make the main image black and white to create the urban effect that I wanted. It also allowed me to create all the text and put them in front of the main image due to the layers. My double page spread also utilised a lot of Photoshop's tools, for example I used the spot healing tool on the artist to make the image look cleaner. I also used the eraser tool to remove a wire that was in the bottom right corner of the image. Also with the main image I added a Satin effect to it to try and improve the slightly poor quality of the picture. To create my double page spread I had to edit the page dimensions to make the page horizontal and A3.

Above is the evidence of my use of Photoshop on both my Double page spread and Front cover

P2-Font mood Board

These are several fonts that I have compiled together as I believe I may be using some of them on my product

Fonts

1) To me this first font is simple and clear, I may not be using it for my main heading however I may use it elsewhere on my front cover

2) This next font reminds me of the official "Hip Hop" magazines font, as well as "XXL". I am going to use this font for my Headline as the magazines I have looked at feature similarities.

3)This font is not something I would not use on my front cover as it does not stand out or serve any purpose for any important text on my front cover

4) This font is similar to the previous however slightly bolder, again I will not be using this font for the same reasons

5) This font again does not stand out for any main text, however I will use this font for the smaller text that is on the front cover

6) This font is less formal, and is what I originally envisioned, however after my product research not many magazines go with this style of font and because of this I will avoid the use of this style of font

7) This font is also not as formal as the others however it is slightly more bold and stands out more, but I will not be using this as it is not a common convention of hip hop magazines

I also considered a graffiti style font however again, my research taught me that not many magazines go for this style and I will be trying to make my product look professional so I will keep to the conventions 

P3-Mood board



M1 - Advantages and disadvantages of product research methods

The advantages of questionnaires

1. Its a sensible way to collect information

2. Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time for a cheap price

3. Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people without any consequences on quality

4. The results of the questionnaires can be quickly and easily collected together

5. Can be referred to later easily 

The disadvantages of questionnaires

1. It Is argued to be insufficient when collecting some forms of information

2. The information that people give is limited

3. People may not take the questionnaire seriously 

4. People could lie

5. Can be biased

6. People could miss-understand questions


The advantages of Focus groups

1. It can get a whole groups opinion who have the opportunity to discuss their ideas and question others 

2. It can save time and money from doing 1 on 1 Interviews

3. We can get clarification on our ideas

4. Provides useful material such as quotes

5. People tend not to lie in person

The disadvantages of Focus groups

1. Some people may not be comfortable with sharing their opinion with strangers 

2. Its easy for the discussion to go off topic

3. It may not be easy to organize as some people may not be willing to take part

4. People may feel pressured to agree with the most popular opinions

After reviewing my options I have decided to create a questionnaire as I believe it best suites my product research. I will create my questionnaire on survey monkey and share the link to my local target audience via social media, they can also stumble upon the survey online whilst looking through other surveys.  

P3-Reece Risk assessment

Location	Hazard	People Who may be harmed	Property which may be damaged	Risk controls already in place	Risk assessment                                              -Low, Moderate or High	Further action  required to control risk
Studio	Falling over expensive equipment and wires that I do not own	Cast and Crew	Camera, lighting	The studio is designed to be as safe as possible	High	Ask one of the professionals to make sure everything is safe
Luke's House	A small enclosed space for the equipment	Cast and Crew	Camera	None	Moderate	Clear out all unnecessary equipment and furniture
Lukes Garden	Tripping over tree roots or any other bumps/ holes in the ground	Cast and crew	Camera	The area is taken care of, so we may not have to worry	Low	Check the whole area before we take the equipment out

P3-Gantt Chart

P3- SWOT analysis

Recording Studio Strength       Weaknesses -Its easily available for me -Its professional   -I won't be disturbed  -I am familiar with the studio -I will only have a limited amount of time there - It is not a close location, I have to travel quite far -I am unfamiliar with the cameras and how to get the image off the camera Opportunities  Threats -A clear background will allow me to create a photo to go over both pages on the double page spread and put text over it -The Professional equipment will make the shoot look better -Equipment is already there so I don't have to take anything  -There are professionals I could ask for help if anything goes wrong -The studio could be fully booked -The possibility of illness/ missing personnel.  - The shoot must be successful as it may be difficult to get in again before my product deadline

P3- Questionnaire Questions

P3- Questionnaire Results

P3, M1- Presentation

P4, M3- My product

P2 Flatplans

After researching other magazines, these are my initial flat plans. I will attempt to stick to these as much as possible as they resemble professional magazine front covers and articles. However my ideas may change as I collect my Images and write my article.

My magazine features several different features that I have gathered from other existing Hip Hop magazines for example my front cover, the masthead is featured in the top left corner as the magazine XXL has their masthead here, they have their title stand out as it is in a red block that contrasts anything else on the page, because of this I want to have my masthead on a coloured shape that stands out as a recognisable thing that would be on every issue. This would be recognisable to anyone in Liverpool as it is a local magazine, this achieves the community aspect of the client brief.